A G Y 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



AIR 



69 



20. Agrostis Tenacissima ; Tough Bent Grass. Panicle 

 contracted, filiform ; flowers linear, valves parallel. A pe- 

 rennial, and native of the East Indies. 



21. Agrostis Virginica ; I'irginian Bent Grass. Panicle 

 contracted ; leaves rolled inwards, subulate, rigid, standing 

 out. An elegant little plant, the stalk somewhat compressed, 

 and seldom rising above four or five inches from the root. 



22. Agrostis Mexicana; Mexican Bent Grass. Panicle ob- 

 long, heaped; calix and corolla acuminate, and nearly equal. 

 Culms numerous, a foot high, smooth, erect. This species 

 is difficult to determine. It is a native of South America, 

 flowers the second year, and has the appearance of Cinna. 



33. Agrostis Purpurascens ; Purple Bent Grass. Panicle 

 contracted, elongate; branches pressed close, upright; florets 

 unequal, acuminate. A native of Jamaica. 



24. Agrostis Indica ; Indian Bent Grass. Panicle con- 

 tracted ; racemes lateral, erect, alternate. A native of India. 



25. Agrostis Ciliata ; dilate Bent Grass. Glume of the 

 calix angular, and ciliate. A native of Japan. 



26. Agrostis Panicea ; Bearded Bent Grass. Panicle sub- 

 spiked ; branches and branchlets fascicled ; valves of the 

 calix, and one of the corolla, awned ; that of the corolla 

 very short. This grows in marshes and wet pastures. 



27. Agrostis Lenta ; For/fed Bent Grass. Spikes subtern, 

 umbellate ; floscules awnless, oblong, acute ; calycine valves 

 subequal ; leaves and sheaths smooth. It is annual, a na- 

 tive of the East Indies, and flowers in July and August. 



28. Agrostis Complanata ; Flat-stalked Bent Grass. Spikes 

 umbelled, smooth ; outer calycine valves awned ; flatted 

 leaves, and sheaths smooth. This species is perennial, 

 flowers in July and August, and is a native of Jamaica. 



29. Agrostis Pungens ; Prickly Bent Grass. Panicle con- 

 tracted ; leaves involute, stiff, pungent ; the upper ones ob- 

 liquely opposite ; culm branching. Perennial ; and a native 

 of Arabia, Barbary, and the dry countries near the coast of the 

 country of Nice. The Arabs use it as a medicine for the piles. 



30. Agrostis Vinealis ; Short-awned Bent Grass. Culms 

 ascending ; calix coloured ; awn nearly straight, from be- 

 low the middle of the back, about as long as the calix. 

 Native of Switzerland, and the north of England. 



31. Agrostis Ovata ; Ovate-panicled Bent Grass. Outer 

 petal awned below the tip ; panicle ovate, contracted, spike- 

 form. A native of New Zealand. 



32. Agrostis Odorata ; Sweet Bent Grass. Spikes with the 

 florets pointing one way, heaped together ; culm six inches 

 high. A native of Cochin-China, near the coast. This grass 

 is highly esteemed by the Cochin-Chinese for the perma- 

 nency of its odour ; they dry it to perfume their clothes with. 



33. Agrostis Plicata ; Plaited-leaved Bent Grass. Leaves 

 plaited ; spike linear, uwnless. Culm a foot and half high. 

 Native of the suburbs of Canton. 



34. Agrostis Cinna. Panicle contracted, awnless ; flowers 

 acuminate, with one, two, or three stamina; leaves flat, 

 scabrous. 



35. Agrostis Diandra. Panicle elongate, contracted ; 

 flowers subulate, two-stamined ; leaves convolute. Native 

 of the East Indies, whence it was sent by Koenig under 

 the name of Cinna. 



Agyneia ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Mona- 

 delphia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male flowers below the fe- 

 male. Calix.- six-leaved ; leaflets oblong, obtuse, equal, per- 

 manent. Corolla : none. In the male, instead of filaments, 

 a column shorter than the calix ; three or four antherae, ob- 

 long, growing to the column below the top. In the female 

 flowers, germ of the size of the calix, subovate, obtuse, per- 

 forated at top with a six-notched hole : neither style nor stisma. 



VOL. i. 6. 



Pericarp : supposed to be a tricoccous capsule. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix .- six-leaved. Corolla .- none. Male ; 

 three antherae, growing to the rudiment of a style. Female ; 

 germ perforated at top ; without style or stigma. Species. 



1. Agyneia Impubes. Leaves smooth on both sides. 

 An erect shrub, a native of China. 



2. Agyneia Pubera. Leaves down underneath. Also a 

 native of China. 



Ailanthus ; a genus of the class Polygamia, order Moncecia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 five-parted, very small. Corolla : petals five, lanceolate, 

 acute, convolute at the base, spreading. Stamina ; filaments 

 ten, compressed, the length of the corolla; antherae oblong, 

 versatile. Female. Calix : as in the male, permanent. Co- 

 rolla ; as in the male. Pistil ; germs three to five, curved 

 inwards ; styles lateral ; stigmas capitate. Pericarp, cap- 

 sules as many as there are germs, compressed, membrana- 

 ceous, sabre-shaped, acute, on one of the edges emarginate. 

 Seeds : solitary, lens-shaped, bony, close to the emargina- 

 ture. Hermaphrodite. Calix : as in the male and female. 

 Corolla : as in the male. Stamina : filaments two or three, 

 as in the male. Pistil: pericarp and seed as in the female. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix: five-parted. Co- 

 rolla : five-petalled. Stamina : ten. Female. -Calix and 

 Corolla: as in the male. Germs: three to five. Styles: 

 lateral. Pericarp: membranaceous, one-seeded. Herma- 

 phrodite. Calix and Corolla : as in the male. Stamina : two 

 to three. One species only is known, viz. 



1. Ailanthus Glandulosa ; Tall Ailanthus. This tree rises 

 with a straight trunk to the height of forty or fifty feet ; the 

 bark is grey, slightly furrowed, and has white marks on it; 

 the young twigs are covered with a fine velvet down. The 

 flowers are numerous, and exhale a disagreeable odour. * 

 It is a native of China, grows very fast in our climate, and 

 being a handsome and lofty tree, is proper for ornamental 

 plantations. If the bark be wounded, a resinous juice flows 

 out, which hardens in a few days. The wood is hard, heavy, 

 glossy, like satin, and susceptible of a very fine polish. 



Aira ; a genus of the class Triandria, order Digynia. GE- 

 NERIC CHARACTER. Calix : a two-flowered, two-valved 

 glume ; valves ovate-lanceolate, acute, equal. Corolla : bi- 

 valve ; valves like those of the calix ; nectary two-leaved ; 

 leaflets acute, gibbous at the base. Stamina : filaments capil- 

 lary, the length of the flower, with oblong antherae, forked at 

 each end. Pistil: germ ovate, styles setaceous, spreading, 

 with pubescent stigmas. Pericarp: none. Seed: subovate, 

 covered by the corolla. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : 

 two-valved, two-flowered, without any rudiment of a third. 

 For the method of propagation and culture, see Grass. 

 The species are, 



* Naked, or awnless. 



1. Aira Arundinacea ; Reedy Aira-grass. Panicle oblong, 

 on one side, imbricate ; leaves flat. It is found in the Le- 

 vant, and in Cochin-China. 



2. Aira Minuta ; Minute Aira-grass. Panicle loose, almost 

 level-topped, very branching. This is an annual grass, 

 scarcely an inch high, and a native of Spain. 



3. Aira Aquatica ; Water Aira-grass. Panicle spreading ; 

 flowers smooth, longer than the calix ; leaves flat. The root 

 of this species is perennial ; it runs to a considerable distance 

 in the water, throwing off roots and young shoots as it passes 

 along. It flowers in June and July, but is not worthy of cul- 

 tivation. The sandy lands near Exmouth, about Northfleet 

 in Kent, and in Yorkshire and Lancashire, produce it. 



** Awned. 



4. Aira Subspicata ; Spiked Aira-grass. Leaves flat ; pa- 



